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Am I still producing milk?

My baby is 2 weeks old and I am happy to report that I am now able to breastfeed without cringing in pain the whole time. My nipples were so sore every time she latched on I just felt like my nipples were getting ripped off by some torture device. I don't know if the type of bottle we gave her helped her open her mouth like she would on my breast or she just got better at suckling. Whatever it is I am glad I am not experiencing that pain. The first week I was pumping alot almost every 4 hours or when my boobs were engorged and had begun to pump out about 2 fl oz each breast. I didn't time myself I just kind of pumped until my flow really slowed down to almost nothing. Going into the second week I haven't really been pumping because I have mainly been at home with her and with the comfort of knowing that I was producing enough milk (that was my worry at first, had to supplement with formula when she was first born). Also I am at home with her and am not really bottle feeding her unless we go out for a long time. My boobs haven't really been getting engorged with milk so I am beginning to wonder if I am still producing enough milk. I have tried to pump because we will be out of the house for the most part tomorrow and when I did pump I only got 1 1/2 oz out of both breasts. Has anyone had the same experience as me? Is my milk supply lessening?

Re: Am I still producing milk?

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on the new baby and on getting the baby to the breast! That's an awesome achievement to have under your belt!

Now, on to your question. As long as you are feeding on demand and your baby is producing adequate wet/poopy diaper output- here's a reference: http://kellymom.com/bf/got-milk/supp.../enough-milk/- you have enough milk, even if your breasts feel empty. Most moms start out making more milk than their babies need. That's nature's way of ensuring that a new baby gets enough to eat while she masters the tricky art of breastfeeding. When a mom makes more milk than baby needs, she is likely to frequently feel full or engorged, to leak more, and to be able to pump out a lot of milk with very little effort. This state of affairs is unlikely to persist; making a lot of extra milk is a waste of your energy and also puts you at increased risk for nasty things like plugged ducts and mastitis. So your body eventually decreases supply to the point where it matches baby's needs more exactly. When supply and demand are well matched, it is normal to rarely or never feel full or engorged, to leak less or not at all, and to see pump output decline. And just for the record, when supply and demand are well matched, most moms find that they produce around 1.5 oz of milk per hour when they pump in place of a feeding.

You mentioned that you pumped because you'll be out of the house a lot tomorrow. Does that mean you're not yet comfortable nursing in public? If so, let us know- we'll be more than happy to share tips on how to nurse on the go, anywhere you and baby happen to be!

Re: Am I still producing milk?

Thank you for your response, and thank you. It was a tough one.

She is putting out more than enough wet/poopy diapers. Her poop has also turned green instead of the yellow that it was it still has those "seeds" in there. Is that normal? I am glad to hear that mother's make more milk at first until baby masters the breastfeeding challenge. I am still a little concerned as to if I am making enough for her, today has been different from all other days. Usually she nurses for about 10 - 15 mins on one breast and is satisfied and will go to sleep. Today she would nurse for about 6 mins or so let go, fall asleep. I would burp her and put her down and maybe 5 mins later she is fussing that she is still hungry. Is this normal behavior?

As far as nursing out in public, I don't think I am comfortable yet. I mean where would I nurse if there is no room? I don't want to feel awkward or make the public awkward. Some people just don't see breastfeeding as something to do in public. I think I would be ok to nurse in the car or maybe in a nursing dedicated room. I am definately open to hear any tips to make this experience easier not only for me but for my baby girl. Again thank you!

btw ... the website link you have on your reply says that the page is not found.

Re: Am I still producing milk?

With such a young baby, you want to be alert about green poops. Green is in the normal spectrum of poop colors, and as long as the baby is growing well and producing abundant pee and poops, it's not a big concern. Often it is related to milk oversupply- when a mom has a lot of milk her baby is going to get a lot of lactose (milk sugar), and that can produce green poops and a lot of gas. The fact that your baby feeds in just 5-6 minutes suggests that she may be getting a lot of milk very quickly!

That being said, green poop can sometimes be a sign of inadequate milk intake. If the baby's poops are very scanty, or watery, or don't contain the seedy stuff, or the baby's urine output falls below normal, you'd want to take the baby in to the pediatrician and to see a lactation consultant, preferably an IBCLC, right away. I want to emphasize that I don't think this is the case for your baby, based on your assertion that your baby has more than enough wet/poopy diapers! But do keep a careful eye on diaper output for the first 6 weeks or so.

Frequent and confusing feedings are very normal with newborns. Babies need to learn to nurse, they need to discover how to read their own satiation cues, they need to figure out what to do when they move a Burp out and suddenly have a little additional room in their tummies. In addition, at 2 weeks your baby is probably heading into her first major growth spurt- they tend to hit at around 3 weeks, 6 weeks, and 3 months. During growth spurts, babies tend to feed much more often than their previous pattern.

When it comes to nursing in public, I encourage you to nurse with pride- you are doing something wonderful for your child!- and also to never let what "some people" think impact how you feed your child, particularly if those people are perfect strangers. My favorite saying about nursing in public is that "If nursing offends you, you are staring too hard", .
Tips on discreet and comfortable nursing in public:
- Stick an extra blanket or two in your diaper bag. A well-stuffed diaper bag can double as an on-the-go nursing pillow.
- Invest in a couple of nursing shirts. Motherwear makes nice ones. They allow you to expose the minimum amount of flesh necessary to nurse. Or wear layers- one that you can pull up, one that you can pull down (like a t-shirt on top of a tank top). You pull the top layer up and the bottom down and you have a good opening to nurse.
- Try a nursing cover- Bebe au Lait makes nice ones.
- Nurse in front of a mirror to get a sense of how your clothing falls. You are probably exposing less skin than you fear.

And, just for the record, here are some places I have nursed my kids: my front yard, restaurants, playgrounds, airplanes, on the bench in front of my older kid's school, rest stops, Starbucks, the bench in the middle of the grocery store, the rocking chair display at Target, the aquarium, my FIL's memorial service... The list goes on. I stopped using a nursing cover long, long ago, and have yet to have one single person complain. If someone ever does, they can go to the restroom until I am finished, so that they won't get so offended by something they could easily ignore.